Fritz Arno Wagner
Fritz Arno Wagner (December 5, 1889 - August 18, 1958) is considered one of the most acclaimed German cinematographers from the 1920s to the 1950s.[1] He played a key role in the Expressionist movement[2] in the Weimar period and is perhaps best known for excelling in "in the portrayal of horror" according to film critic Lotte H. Eisner.[3]
Background
Born in Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig, Germany, Wagner received his training at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris.[4] He got his break in the film business in 1910 securing the job of a clerk at the Pathé film company while still attending the University of Leipzig.[5] In 1912, he became both secretary and chef at the Pathé offices in Vienna and later in Berlin.[6]
Career
Wagner was interested in cinematography and in 1913 became a newsreel cameraman stationed in New York for Pathé Weekly where he reported on the Mexican Revolution. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914 he returned to Germany to enlisted in his country's elite Hussar cavalry and filming war reports.[7][8] However, after being wounded, he decided to take the job of stills photographer and then 2nd cameraman at Projektions-AG Union [PAGU]. In 1919, he went to work as a primary cameraman for Decla-Bioscop.
Along with Karl Freund, Wagner became Germany's leading cinematographer of the 20's and 30's, a master of the moody, Gothic lighting that characterized the expressionist movement.[9] He worked with some of Germany most prominent directors, including Ernst Lubitsch on Madame Du Barry (1919), F. W. Murnau on The Haunted Castle (1921) and his classic Nosferatu (1922), and G.W. Pabst on four features, The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927), Westfront 1918 (1930), Comradeship (1931) and The Threepenny Opera (1931) based on the Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill musical. He also collaborated with Fritz Lang on four films, Destiny (1921), Spies (1928), M and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1932).
Wagner's career declined, however, after the Nazis took over in 1933 which caused the virtual exodus of many of the country's prominent directors to the U.S. including his two main collaborators, Pabst and Lang. To make ends meet Wagner abandoned his unique style and turned to making glossy costume epics and musicals for UFA during this period.[10] After WWII, he worked for a couple of years as a director of photography of documentaries and newsreels before returning to feature films with DEFA at Babelsburg.[11]
Death
Wagner died in an automobile accident on August 18, 1958 during the filming of the comedy film, Ohne Mutter geht es nicht, directed by Erik Ode.[12][5][13][unreliable source?] He is buried at Waldfriedhof Dahlem am Hüttenweg cemetery in Berlin, Germany.[14]
In Shadow of the Vampire, he was portrayed by Cary Elwes.
Partial filmography
- As a cinematographer[15]
- Destiny (1921)
- The Haunted Castle (1921)
- Nosferatu (1922)
- Warning Shadows (1922)
- Spies (1928)
- Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
- Westfront 1918 (1930)
- Kameradschaft (1931)
- M (1931)
- The Threepenny Opera (1931)
- The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
- The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes (1937)
Notes
- ^ The concise Cinegraph: encyclopaedia of German cinema By Hans-Michael Bock and Tim Bergfelder (2009)
- ^ http://movies.nytimes.com/person/115697/Fritz-Arno-Wagner
- ^ http://theartofmemory.blogspot.com/2007/06/fritz-arno-wagner-cinematographer-13.html
- ^ http://theartofmemory.blogspot.com/2007/06/fritz-arno-wagner-cinematographer-13.html
- ^ a b Brennan, Sandra. "Overview: Fritz Arno Wager". Allmovie. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
- ^ http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/wagner.htm
- ^ http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/pdf/WW1%20de%20cav.pdf
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=z7gFT_Duq1cC&pg=PA509&lpg=PA509&dq=fritz+arno+wagner&source=bl&ots=Ic9e8_ZGG1&sig=REojpb6PY1TtthZdkdqK8kW2HRs&hl=en&ei=2a6qTYnOMJPGsAO81-X5DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CEkQ6AEwCTge#v=onepage&q=fritz%20arno%20wagner&f=false
- ^ http://mubi.com/cast_members/1325
- ^ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18548962
- ^ http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-Vi-Win/Wagner-Fritz-Arno.html
- ^ http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/wagner.htm
- ^ "Fritz Arno Wagner". IMDB.
- ^ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18548962
- ^ "Fritz Arno Wagner: Filmography". Allmovie. Retrieved November 8, 2009.